Wednesday, 9 September 2026

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (19:08): (2797) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Police, and the action I seek is for the minister to reverse the decision to permanently close police stations in Fitzroy, Collingwood and Southbank. When the new Premier took the role by knifing the previous Premier, one thing that was quite clear from him is that he wanted to see police stations open. It was the same for the Minister for Police. He wanted to see police stations open and police stations would be open. No sooner than six weeks later do we see police stations close under this government, under this police minister and under this Premier, betraying the confidence of the Victorian people when they said they wanted to see police stations open. This is because of neglect and underfunding of our police force. We see that Collingwood and Fitzroy, which were previously open to the public 24 hours a day, are now said to have their public counter hours shut permanently. The Crime Statistics Agency Victoria data shows that offences against the person in the City of Yarra have increased by 25.8 per cent over the past two years, while theft has surged by more than 22 per cent. Under Labor, crime is up but police stations are closed. They are down.

We need a fresh start here in this state, and only the Liberals and Nationals under Jess Wilson have a plan to deliver 3000 new police to return the hours and reopen the over 40 police stations that are closed or have reduced operating hours – I think it is now up to 43 – under this Labor government. Victorians are increasingly concerned about crime in their communities, and instead of putting more police on the beat and making police stations more accessible, the government is shutting their doors. Of course we saw a terrible incident at Reservoir police station about a year ago, where a woman fleeing a domestic violence offender went to Reservoir police station as a refuge, only for it to be closed and to be stabbed.

I looked on the member for Preston’s Facebook page, and he actually welcomed the permanent closure of the front counter at Reservoir police station – a police station that Lisa Neville, as police minister, opened in 2021 for over $15 million, boasting about the fact that this Labor government was going to deliver a new 24-hour police station. Can you believe this government? It has got a police minister and Premier that say they want police stations open, and we have the member from Preston welcoming a police station being shut – an absolute disgrace.